It’s been a while.
Semyon Varlamov hasn’t played an NHL regular season hockey game in nearly two years, but that changes on Tuesday night for the New York Islanders.
Varlamov has been announced as the man who will stand in goal when the Islanders begin their cross-town clash with the New York Rangers.
It’s been quite the long time coming for Varlamov.
To be exact — 676 days.
For the first time in 676 days, Semyon Varlamov will play in an NHL game 🙌
After undergoing knee surgery in December of 2024 that kept him out of playing for almost 2 years, Varlamov will be the Islanders’ starting goaltender tonight vs. the Rangers, Pete Deboer announced 👏 https://t.co/cT9geadbY5
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 6, 2026
If you like technicalities, Varlamov did appear in the preseason. He also played for AHL Bridgeport in April. But this is different. This is a real start that will go into his NHL stats and prove that Varlamov, after a long journey, made it back.
Why Was Semyon Varlamov Out So Long?
Varlamov was out so long because his knee injury and subsequent recovery were both brutal.
He hurt his knee initially on Nov. 29, 2024.
Then he had to undergo double partial knee replacements, which for a goalie in his upper-30s did not make for an easy comeback.
“It’s a long process I had to go through physically and mentally,” Varlamov told the Islanders’ official website at the start of training camp. “It was a lot of up and downs, a lot of setbacks. I expected that I would be back sooner, but it’s okay… I came back and I’m finally feeling good, and I’m feeling 100% on the first day of training camp, so I’m very excited and looking forward to play again.”
Varlamov really had no way to know just how long this process would take. It’s not exactly a standard injury procedure and recovery for an active NHL player.
“I was just telling myself just take it one day at the time, and then wake up next morning and do it again,” Varlamov told the Islanders’ website. “We didn’t really know how long it will take to finish the rehab and feel 100% because the type of surgeries I’ve done. People are doing it, but not professional hockey players to try to come back [to play]. That was kind of like a crazy idea, a very risky idea, but I took a risk and then had to do a lot of rehab, and then just had to be very, very patient.”
Varlamov could’ve retired, of course, but he didn’t want to give up on hockey.
“I wasn’t ready to retire,” Varlamov told the Islanders’ site. “Of course, like there were definitely some days it was in my mind when things were not going well… We had a lot of setbacks and push backs, so I was thinking maybe this is it. I won’t be able to come back. But you wake up next morning and then just tell yourself you’re just not ready to retire and I’m not there yet, I guess. I still have a lot of respect and love for the game, and I want to be around this team.”
On Tuesday night, Varlamov will finally be back.
Semyon Varlamov Stats
Varlamov was a first-round NHL Draft pick all the way back in 2006 by the Washington Capitals.
Since then, he has played in 17 separate seasons and 621 games for the Caps, Avalanche and Islanders.
Varlamov has a career record of 289-232-71. He has a career 91.6 save percentage to go with a 2.65 goals against average.
And after it seemed he might not add to that anymore, Varlamov has another NHL game coming right up.
Why Semyon Varlamov Missed 676 Days of NHL Action Before Islanders Return